In Memory Still Bright
by Aislinn Carter
Summary: In the years after their return, the crew of the USS Voyager make happy lives for themselves in the Alpha Quadrant. A glimpse of the future of our favorite crew following Endgame and Christie Golden's books, and a look at some descendants! JC,PT,etc.


This story takes place several years after Christie Golden's books, which include the Spirit Walk books. It follows the canon of Voyager, and the universe of Homecoming and The Farther Shore.

Disclaimer: I don't own Voyager. I think Paramount does. But if I did, this is how it would have ended up. I also give credit to Christie Golden. I loosely followed the timeline of her Homecoming books for this story. There is also a line in the story I adapted from a line from Babylon 5, which I also don't own.

Please Read and Review, I adore feedback! Repost anywhere, just let me know.

In Memory Still Bright

By Aislinn Carter

There were a lot of things B'Elanna had been unprepared for in her lifetime. She had been unprepared for her father leaving. She knew she shouldn't have been; the climate of their home had been so hostile for so long that she really shouldn't have been surprised, but in the end she had been. She hadn't been prepared for Starfleet Academy, that was for sure. Being thrust 70,000 light years from home, such as it was, had been a shock, and no one had been prepared for that. And even though she knew it was coming, and had finally lowered her defenses against it, she was unprepared for the intense love that had blossomed between her and Tom Paris.

But the biggest trial in her life, the phase she had been most unprepared for, had been motherhood.

It was strange, she thought to herself as she held her newborn baby in her arms, that even now, after everything, she was still so unprepared. Here she held this blank slate, a tiny new person who B'Elanna would be responsible for molding and shaping and guiding. Someone who would depend on her. It puzzled her how even now, she was unprepared.

She looked up as she heard footsteps to see Tom peek his head in the room. He grinned at her. "Are you up for some company?"

She smiled and tilted her head. "It depends, are they going to behave themselves?"

A tiny face peeked around Tom, looking indignant. "I always behave myself, Mommy. It's Tori and Eddie who are always being bad."

"We are not!" piped up little voices from behind. Tom shook his head and smiled wanly at his wife, then stepped aside to let them in.

They spilled into the room, her children, who she loved more than anything. Four of them, including little Katie in the stroller Tom pushed. They crowded around the bed, focused on the tiny bundle in their mother's arms.

"What's his name?" Almost ten year old Miral asked softly. She was the child who looked the most unfazed. After all, it had become standard procedure for her parents to bring home a baby every few years.

* * *

For two people who had once been concerned that their physiologies wouldn't be compatible enough for even one child, Tom and B'Elanna certainly hadn't had any trouble contributing to the population. There hadn't been any pregnancies after Miral, which had disappointed them but not crushed them as it would if they hadn't had her. They focused all their energy and love on their little girl, and she had the first five years to herself with them. She was B'Elanna's special baby, her first, her little helper when the other babies started coming. She had been five when her mother suddenly fell violently ill while they were home together, and she had the presence of mind, even so young, to immediately comm her father and the Doctor. They had both transported right away to find B'Elanna in a half faint, wracked by heaves and whiter than they had ever seen her. They got her into bed and sent Miral to her room, where she had sat in fear, clutching a stuffed elephant from her Aunt Kathryn until her father came to talk to her. 

He had looked tired but thrilled, and Miral had been puzzled. She didn't see how he could be happy that her mother was sick, until he told her that in six months, they were going to have two new babies in their home.

B'Elanna had been stunned. She hadn't expected to get pregnant again, so she hadn't recognized the initial symptoms for what they were. A strain of the Trakkian Flu had spread through Starfleet Engineering Corp, so naturally she had assumed she picked it up. And as was often the case with B'Elanna, she pushed getting treatment until the last possible second. Only she didn't have the flu. The doctor had happily informed Tom and his wife that she wasn't sick at all, only pregnant…with twins.

"I don't understand." B'Elanna said weakly from her bed, Tom sitting next to her, holding her hand. "First, I can't get pregnant at all, now you're telling me I got…super pregnant?"

"I'm not so surprised." Tom spoke up. "Well, I am, but at the same time I'm not. My grandmother was a twin, as is my mother. Not identical, but they were still twins. I though fraternal twins weren't hereditary. I thought my grandmother, already being a twin then giving birth to a set, was just a coincidence."

"Well there is a certain level of genetic hereditary involved, Commander. But these things do just happen. People can try and try and try, and then just out of nowhere, they end up with a baby. Or in your case, two babies. I'm very happy for you both."

B'Elanna and Tom looked at each other and smiled, never expecting this moment to come again. "Thank you doctor," she said softly. "This is the best news I've gotten in a long time".

* * *

They named the babies Victoria and Edward. They had wanted to name the boy Owen, but Tom's father had put his foot down. "I always hated my name; I won't have my first grandson saddled with it. Make it his middle name if you want, but I actually have a better suggestion." 

They had named the baby Edward Owen, after the man who really was, in a way, responsible for bringing them together. If Edward Janeway hadn't raised his daughter they way he had, hadn't supported her and taught her the ways of science and Starfleet, there was a very real chance that events would not have unfolded as they did. Tom and B'Elanna might have never ended up together, unless it had been in prison. Admiral Janeway had been deeply touched by the gesture. She didn't have a son – yet – and neither did her sister, so neither had been able to pass on their father's name. It had been, Kathryn said, the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her father.

Tom had insisted on naming their new daughter Victoria Rose. B'Elanna didn't know why, until a few days after they brought the twins home, she heard Tom comforting the baby girl. "There, there, little Tori. Calm down, Daddy's here."

B'Elanna had smothered a giggle and waited until Tom put the baby back in her bassinet and came into bed.

"Tori? Is that why you wanted to name her Victoria, so you could call her Tori?"

Tom had the grace to look embarrassed. "Well, all our children have my last name, and you are your father's only child. We couldn't very well name her Torres, but I think Tori is a nice substitute. In some way, she has your name."

Tears had sprung to B'Elanna's eyes. "That's so sweet of you, Tom." She had whispered softly. He grinned and wrapped an arm around her.

"I was thinking, the next boy we can name John, and the next girl, we could name, maybe Lanna? After her Mommy."

B'Elanna burst out laughing. "The next boy and girl? Oh, I hope you're carrying them, Tom, because I think I'm done." She smiled. "I don't expect to get pregnant again, sweetheart. We've beaten the odds, but I doubt it will happen again. We have a perfect family. I am very, very happy."

Miral had adjusted to the babies quite well, and was a great help to her parents. She was enthralled with the babies, and referred to them as 'our babies'. However, when her mother's words about no more children proved untrue, she felt the situation was getting out of hand. The twins were two when her parents brought home little Kathryn Alanna, named for the woman who had guided her parents and kept an entire ship-family together for so many years, and also for Fleet Admiral Alynna Nechayev, the woman who, as it turned out, had been heavily involved in the full and complete pardon of the Maquis crew of Voyager. On Nechayev's orders, there had been absolutely no inquiry into Janeway's decision to merge the crews and grant rank and privilege to Federation enemies. That fact hadn't come out for several years, and when it did, people were surprised. Nechayev, after all, didn't exactly have a reputation for being a softly. The one day, Tom ran into her as he was going into his father's office and she was coming out, and the two had a short conversation on the matter. She had just smiled and told Tom that in her mind, the seven years they all spent on Voyager should well be considered time served for the former Maquis. She hadn't seen any reason to break up friends and family over a long ago conflict which had since been resolved in the Alpha Quadrant. For that, Tom and B'Elanna were very grateful, so they combined B'Elanna's name and Alynna's to come up with their new daughter's middle name. "With a name like Kathryn Alanna," Chakotay had joked when he met her. "I would worry. You two are in trouble with this one."

But little Miral had been very concerned about this new baby. She was seven now, and where once there had blissful peace and quiet with just her and her parents, she now had to share attention with two very noisy toddlers and an even nosier infant. She kept her opinion to herself, until she finally lost her patience when, a few months after her ninth birthday, her incredibly shocked parents informed her that once again, there would be a new baby.

She was older now, and knew a lot more than her parents thought she did. She knew how babies were made; well, she should, considering how many new ones kept appearing in her once perfect and well ordered world. She also knew there were ways to prevent against new babies, and she had decided that even though her knowledge would shock her parents, she was going to let them know what she thought of their unstable birth control methods.

She sat there, staring at them, while they sat on the sofa across from her, looking nervous. This time was different, and they knew it.

"I do hope I won't be recruited to play nurse to this baby, too." she said petulantly, her arms crossed. She looked remarkably like her mother in that instance, her jaw set and her eyes blazing. "I hardly have time for my schoolwork and my friends, not to mention all your babies."

It didn't go unnoticed by her parents that she was no longer referring to her siblings as 'our babies'. "Miral, believe me, we don't expect you to be a baby-sitter. We appreciate that you help out so much…you're getting to be a very big girl now, and we're very proud of you." B'Elanna said but was cut off by her daughter's snort.

"You're right, Mommy, I am a big girl now. I know all about babies. And I know that you don't have to have a baby if you don't want one…that you can prevent babies from being made."

Her parents' mouths dropped open and her father's face turned red. "Miral Julia Paris, where on Earth did you learn something like that?"

"Daddy, come on. Like Mommy said, I'm a big girl. I know a lot more than you think I do, especially since I always have to watch the babies that you two make."

Her parents exchanged a look. "Honey, we didn't know you were so unhappy watching the babies." Her mother said, concerned. "You know that whenever you don't want to, you don't have to."

"No one told me that. And why do you keep on having babies? Wasn't I good enough?"

"Oh, Miral," Her mother got up to sit next to her, and her father came on the other side. "Honey, you were more than enough. You are so special because you're our first baby. You were born on Voyager, and that was our home for a long time. That's where we fell in love and got married and started our family. We didn't know if we would have a baby at all. It was very hard for my parents to have one, and they weren't able to have another after me. And we had only been married a few months when we found out about you. To have a baby right away like that was overwhelming but also so very, very welcome. And you were what kept us sane when we returned home. Keep in mind, we didn't expect to get back here for many years. We were unprepared for it, and things were so different when we got back that we were frightened. We put everything we had into you. And to be honest, looking back on it, we're glad we had all those years alone with you." B'Elanna paused, unsure of how to continue without Miral thinking she was inadequate. Tom realized her dilemma and jumped in.

"But as much as we love you, and as much as we would have been very happy with you even if we had never had other babies, we wanted more children. We wanted a big family, with lots of love and fighting and playing and laughter. When Mommy was growing up, she didn't have anyone to play with like you do. She didn't have any other brothers and sisters to share herself with. That's something you will always have with your brother and your sisters and this new baby. You'll all share a part of each other, long after Mommy and I are gone. You'll be there for each other. You see the way Aunt Kathleen and Aunt Moira and I love each other. When we were kids, and when we got in trouble, we stuck together. We fought a lot, especially because it was usually the two of them against me, but we loved each other and we were best friends. That's what we wanted for you, sweetheart. We wanted siblings for you to be friends with. And I know it doesn't seem like it now, but one day they will be your best friends. Just wait for them to grow up a little." He took a deep breath before touching the next topic. "As for…ahem…our…lack, I suppose, of birth control. Well, honestly Miral, that is none of your business. It's between Mommy and me what we decide to do about family planning, and you are much too young to question those sorts of things. However, since I recognize that our…lack of restraint with pregnancy has matured you a little faster than most children, I am willing to discuss with you why we have decided not to prevent pregnancy." He glanced at B'Elanna, and she nodded. "Mommy and I decided that we would take no precautions against a baby because a baby is always welcome here for us. After thinking we wouldn't have any babies, then thinking we wouldn't have anymore after you, we didn't prevent it because there was no reason to. I suppose we got used to it, but we also decided that since we had wanted more babies so badly, then we had no right to stop any from coming. I will admit, we are very surprised by how many babies we've been blessed with, and I can tell you that this will be the last baby. I think five is more than enough, don't you?"

Miral rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Besides, Mommy and I aren't as young as we were when you were born. We don't have as much energy, and we also have to work. We have decided that after this we will make sure there won't be any more babies. Not because they wouldn't be loved, but because we want to focus all our love on the babies we already have, and this new little one. And I promise you, you don't have to take care of the babies if you don't want to. You didn't decide to have them, so you shouldn't have to be restricted with your life because of it. But we really do appreciate how much you've helped out. Especially Mommy, you help her out so much and she really needs it sometime."

Miral felt rotten. Her mother really did have a lot to do, and she knew that behaving this way wasn't making it any better. "You promise no more after this?" she asked softly, not looking up.

"We promise. Mommy is going to have a small operation after the baby that will make sure this is the last one."

Miral's head lifted up "An operation? No, Mommy you don't have to! It's okay if you have more, please don't get an operation!"

B'Elanna laughed and gathered her daughter into her arms. "Honey, believe me, it's nothing. It takes five minutes, and there are no side effects and no risks. The Doctor knows what he's doing, you know that."

"Well, okay, but if you decide not to do it and to keep having babies instead, I'll understand."

Tom ruffled his daughter's head. "We know you will."

* * *

Now B'Elanna watched as Miral greeted her newest baby brother. "Well, what's his name?" 

Her mother smiled down at the newest member of their family. "Well, I think we're going to go with what Daddy suggested a long time ago, with a small modification. We're going to name him Jonathan Thomas."

Miral ran a finger along his forehead. "No ridges."

"He looks a lot like Daddy, doesn't he?"

"Yep. Like Katie."

B'Elanna surveyed her children and nodded. While Miral looked far too much like her, Katie looked an awful lot like Tom. She had dark blonde hair, big blue eyes, and fair skin. She had no cranial ridges at all, and instead looked like a tiny, innocent angel, which Tom and Chakotay jokingly agreed was some sort of cover for her true diabolical nature deep down inside. But her mother disagreed. To her, Katie was most definitely a little angel.

The twins were different. They were more a mix, each showing different attributed of their parents. Eddie was about as dark as Miral, with the same faint ridges as her, and big eyes the same shade blue as Katie and Tom's. His hair was a shock of black like his grandfather John, and he was as mischievous as his father had been as a child. Tori was just as mischievous, but she had light brown hair, fairer skin, and B'Elanna and Miral's dark eyes. Her ridges were slightly less pronounced than Miral and Eddie's. She looked somewhere in between them and Katie. And now the new baby looked in between Katie and her.

He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but the Doctor had informed her they were dark. His hair was a wisp of blonde, his skin a shade of pale gold, his forehead smooth. Out of her five children, two had been born without cranial ridges, which had puzzle Tom and B'Elanna. They had spoken to the Doctor about it after Katie was born, at one of her early pediatric visits.

* * *

The doctor had invited them to his office at Starfleet Medical after Katie's examination. Miral and the twins were with Tom's mother that afternoon, so they welcomed the chance to visit with their friend. And to ask him some questions. 

"It's understandable you would wonder about that." The Doctor said congenially, holding little Katie securely in his arms while he fiddled with his computer as the Paris' sat across from him. "Genetics is a very tricky thing, even in this day and age. But really, their appearances are no surprise to me. I referred to the family genetic profiles you each provided me with, and there are correlations amongst the gene sequences-"

"In English, Doc." Tom interjected.

"Right, of course. Basically, any non-Klingon appearances in your children are a result of recessive genetic coding in your own genome. I know I said that your Klingon physiology would continue to assert itself for several generations, and that's true. Katie may have children with cranial ridges, but the reverse is also true. Miral may have children without ridges. Katie is blonde and blue eyed because her father and his parents are blonde and blue eyed, as was your paternal grandmother, B'Elanna."

"That's right, she was. Grandma Rose. She was very blonde, as I recall. Nordic ancestry, I believe. So that's why Katie is so fair?"

"So it would seem. Your recessive genes from your grandmother and Tom's genes have in this instance, overpowered your Klingon genes. There's nothing to worry about. She's still one quarter Klingon, her internal physiology attests to that. It's just the way the genes fell together."

"Oh, we weren't concerned. We were just curious." Tom said.

* * *

"Can I call him Johnny?" Tori asked. 

"That's up to him," Tom said, as he took Katie out of the stroller to bring her over to her new brother. "Ask him when he gets a little older."

"When can I play with him?" Eddie whined. "I'm tired of just playing with girls."

"Wait for him to get a little older." Tom repeated. He held Katie and pointed to the baby. "See the baby, honey?"

Katie took her little thumb out of her mouth and smiled. "Hi, Mommy. Pretty baby."

"Thank you, sweetie. What do you think, Miral? Is he a keeper?"

Miral rolled her eyes. "He'll do."

* * *

"It was another boy." 

Kathryn looked up from her PADD and grinned at her husband. "I told you so."

"I really thought it would be another girl."

"Nah. I knew it was time for Eddie to have a little brother. What's his name?"

"Jonathan Thomas."

"Tom must be pleased. Do you want to go see them later?"

"Of course. Should we call your mother?"

"No, we'll bring them with us." She looked back down to her PADD and smiled. "I guess you're going to need a new first officer for a while."

Chakotay dropped on the sofa next to her and draped an arm around her. "Are you volunteering?"

She laughed. "I don't think so, dear."

"Come on, you taking orders from me? What could be more fun? I think you owe me, anyway, for making me take orders from you all those years."

Kathryn pretended to think about it for a minute. "Nah."

"That's okay. I don't need to be on the bridge of a starship to give you orders." He smirked. She gave him a look.

"If you say so. Where are the girls?"

"They're playing with a couple of emaciated dolls in their playroom. Where did they get those awful things?"

Kathryn laughed. "My sister brought them over yesterday. They're called Barbie dolls; they were very, very popular until World War III. I can't imagine why, and I can't imagine why Phoebe brought them except to irritate me. But the girls love them."

"Did you explain to them that real women have curves?" he grinned as he pinched her slim waist.

"I did. They looked at me like I was crazy. Molly said, and I'm quoting, 'Mommy, I think we know that real ladies don't always look like this. We're not babies.' I don't know when she grew up, but she's starting to make me sad."

"Aw, don't worry about it Kathryn. She's still our little girl. It's Taya who worries me. Yesterday she came into my office and just looked at me. I asked her if she needed something, and she said she wanted to know why Miral Paris told her that Daddy used to kiss Aunt Seven."

Kathryn cringed. "Oh, boy."

"A stronger expletive went through my mind, especially because I know where Miral must have gotten that from. So I had to explain to her that a long time before she was born, Daddy thought he didn't have a chance with Mommy, and he decided to try to be happy with someone else. But he realized he couldn't be, and he and Aunt Seven parted friends. And then, he went after Mommy, and finally won her. Taya was very impressed. But also, I think, not entirely convinced. I feel like the next time Seven is around, she'll be watching me like a hawk."

Kathryn raised an eyebrow and suppressed a grin. "Will she see anything to worry her?"

Chakotay snorted. "Oh yeah, I'm going to suddenly decide Seven and her Borg efficiency actually are for me, and I'm going to drag her to the first turbolift I can find and have my way with her. Sure, honey, there's something to worry about."

Once, that kind of talk would have struck fear in Kathryn's heart. But she knew that whatever feelings might have developed between Chakotay and Seven on Voyager in the Admiral's timeline had no chance here, none at all. Sometimes Chakotay barely tolerated her, and more than once he had professed disbelief in the Admiral's claims. "I just can't ever believe that I would have ended up with her. I thought about dating her for about ten seconds, and I guess I might have pursued it on Voyager, but that was when I thought you were lost to me. I didn't want to be lonely anymore, and you had pulled yourself away from me at that point. She approached me and I responded. But now, the whole situation makes me sick. We were completely incompatible. And," he said softly, touching her face. "She wasn't you."

So now, those kinds of jokes didn't bother her. And Seven had been in a long term…well, she supposed she could call it a partnership, with the Doctor. They had become a little family unit with Icheb, who was now serving as a Lieutenant aboard The Defender. They had also become extended family with the Wildmans, especially since Naomi and Icheb's engagement. Although she was only sixteen, her Ktarian physiology had matured her years earlier, and she had been accepted into Starfleet Academy when she was fourteen. It wasn't long after that she and Icheb's longtime friendship had turned into something more, and even though Naomi was still very young, no one was surprised when they announced they were engaged, although it would be a while until they got married. At least until Naomi graduated Starfleet.

Samantha and her husband had been fairly nonplussed at the news. Growing up on Voyager had made Naomi unlike other children, and she had ceased being a child a long time ago. Her parents were very proud of her, as were her two little brothers. In the decade that they had been home, Samantha had given birth twice, the first baby being born two years after Voyager's return, the second three years after that. She had named the first Benaren, after Kes' father, as she had said she would do all those years ago when she thought Naomi would be a boy. The second boy was named Neelix, after Naomi's Godfather. Although they would probably never meet Neelix again, they all kept in contact with him through the Midas Array. He had been very pleased at the news of Samantha's two babies, just as pleased as he had been to find out Samantha and her husband had resumed their marriage without a hitch when she returned home.

As for Neelix, he had married Dexa, and they had one child, a daughter named Alixia. Kathryn was very happy Neelix had found his place in the galaxy. She knew that losing Kes had always weighed on him, and she was pleased that Dexa and her son had been able to fill the void. She missed him, but with all the advances in propulsion, there was always the chance they would meet again someday. If not, she knew it had been enough just be granted the pleasure to spend seven years in his company.

Kathryn smiled at her husband. "I'll make sure if you end up in any turbolifts, that I'm in there with you. Did you check on Kolopak, too?"

"He's still napping."

She nodded. "Good to know all are present and accounted for." She grinned. "But seriously, what are you going to do? You have that mission to Bajor next week. Who will fill in for Tom?"

"Harry's on leave from The Challenger. I may ask him; see if he wants to take a little trip. Well, if Captain LaForge agrees, that is." Chakotay laughed. "He said Harry has been invaluable as his first officer, that he keeps the naïve young ensigns in line. I have to bite my tongue to keep from telling him that Harry was once the most naïve young ensign in the galaxy."

"But he grew up. I'm very proud of him. Try to sway him from LaForge."

"Tom would kill me if Harry had usurped his place when he gets back. I do miss Harry an awful lot though. I understand that he wanted to advance, and I know it was hard for him to leave Voyager, but sometimes I really wish he had stayed. There are so few from the old days on my ship, now. I mean, they're an exceptionally fine crew, but sometimes, I look around the bridge and can't help but wish the configuration was a little different." He looked down into his wife's eyes. "I can't help but see the ghosts in there, Kathryn." He whispered. "The people we once were, so young, so uncertain that we would ever get home. So young," he repeated. "I see them all there, all of us, in a place I can't touch anymore. It saddens me sometimes, to know that those days are gone forever. As dangerous and stressful as they were, they still belonged to us. That ship belonged to us, you and me."

Kathryn sighed. "Look, I know I haven't been very supportive when you start talking about what I know you're about to talk about, but I'm going to try to be. As much as I want you in command of Voyager, and as much as I don't want Tom to have to take on that responsibility, I will support you if you decide to retire. I mean, God knows I would love to have you here with me all the time, and the kids would be ecstatic. But I think you really need to ask yourself if you could be happy. You're a Captain, Chakotay. You've commanded that ship longer than I did, she's yours."

"No, she's ours. I may have captained her longer, but you were her soul. And without you, it has never felt the same. Even with Harry and Tom, it just never felt like it once did. I know everything changes, but I think that was a change I couldn't ever get past."

"You had Tuvok for a while," she pointed out.

"I know, and I also understand his decision to leave Starfleet. I think, despite his claim of having no emotions, that he missed his family far too much to ever leave them again. And I'm starting to feel the same way." He took her hand. "Don't worry, I'm not going to make any decisions now. We'll see how the year goes."

"We do have the reunion in another two months. Ten years, it's a big one."

"It ought to be interesting, especially if Tom and B'Elanna bring their circus with them."

Kathryn laughed. "Who would have thought they would have so many children? I honestly thought Miral would be an only child."

"I thought Taya would be an only child, but it looks like us Voyagers like to breed."

"Well, I was pretty old when she was born. I was satisfied with one baby. I never could have imagined I'd be able to have more."

"You weren't old."

"I was over forty. To me, that's old to have a first baby."

"I was older than you."

"You're a man, it's different."

"Oh, stop." He rolled her eyes. "How about we agree we're both extremely ancient to be raising three kids and leave it at that?"

Kathryn raised an eyebrow at him. "You may be ancient Chakotay, but I certainly am not."

"Mommy?"

Kathryn looked towards the doorway, where she saw her six year old daughter, Taya, fuming.

"Yes, Taya?"

"Molly hit me!"

Kathryn sat up. "Why?"

"I don't know!"

"Well, go get her and tell her to come in here." She rolled her eyes at her husband. "Never a dull moment here, is there?"

"Not to my knowledge."

The two girls came into the room bickering. Kathryn couldn't believe how much they bickered. She had asked her mother if she and Phoebe had been the same way, and Gretchen just looked at her with amusement. "I always told you girls I hoped you had children just like yourselves one day." She smirked. "I guess my prayers have been answered."

The bickering increased in volume. "Stop it." Kathryn said forcefully. "Molly, why did you hit your sister?"

Four year old Molly Amelia pouted up at her mother, her blue eyes filled with tears and her auburn hair mussed up. "She hit me back, Mommy!"

"Well, why did you hit her first?"

"She said I was a dog!"

"Well, she is, you told me that Mommy!"

"Daddy!" Molly burst into tears and launched herself into her fathers lap.

"Taya Elizabeth Janeway, I have never said that!" Kathryn said, infuriated.

"Yes you did!" Taya stomped her foot, her dark eyes glittering. "You said Molly was a dog!"

Kathryn shook her head. "No, Taya, I said Molly was named after a dog."

Molly cried harder as her father attempted to calm her down. "I don't wanna be named after a dog."

"Taya, you have got to stop starting fights with your sister. Molly, I want you to listen to me. Yes, you were named after a dog. But you were named after a very, very special dog." She reached over to pull Molly from Chakotay, and he gestured for Taya to come sit on his lap. Both girls snuggled up to their parents. "Now listen. You don't remember Molly, but she was the dog I had when Daddy and I got stranded in the Delta Quadrant. She wasn't that old when I left her, but she was going to have puppies. I never saw those puppies, and when I came back, Molly had a new family. Uncle Mark had taken care of her all those years, and I decided that she had to stay with him and his family. It was only right; she wasn't really my dog anymore. But it made me very sad, because I loved her very much. And Uncle Mark knew that. So, not too long after Daddy and I got married, when Molly got pregnant again, Uncle Mark gave us one of her puppies as a wedding present. And do you know who that puppy was?

"Alpha!" Taya exclaimed, referring to the family dog.

"That's right. Molly, my old dog, was Alpha's Mommy. She was pretty old to be having puppies then, so it was her last litter, and we were very happy to have her baby. We decided to name her Alpha, because she was our first pet back in the Alpha Quadrant. Over the next few years, Molly got older, and she died when I was pregnant with you, Molly. So when you were born, we decided to name you after someone we had loved very much, and someone whose child we loved very much. So we named you Molly."

"I'm named after Alpha's mommy?" Molly asked with awe.

"Yes, you are. Still upset about it?"

"No, I like it." She stuck her tongue out at her sister. "You weren't named after anyone special. Ha, ha!"

"Hey!" Kathryn said sharply. "That is not true. Taya was named after someone very special. She was named after Daddy."

Taya frowned. "But Daddy's name is Chakotay."

"Take the last three letters of Daddy's name, add an 'a', and that's your name, Taya. It's the girl version of Chakotay."

Taya grinned. "Ha! My name is more special than yours!"

"Okay, enough, both of you." Chakotay said firmly. "You all have special names. Kolopak was named after your grandfather and Uncle Tuvok. Kolopak Tuvok Janeway."

"I think Uncle Tuvok likes him the best." Taya said.

"Uncle Tuvok doesn't like anyone better than anyone else." Kathryn insisted, even though she knew that Tuvok was far more taken with her son than her daughters. Kolopak was a very quiet, bright toddler. He rarely spoke, but instead seemed to take everything around him in, as though he were analyzing it for further use. He was the same age as little Katie Paris, and when the two of them were together, they would both sit quietly and stare around with their big blue eyes, studying everything and everyone. Chakotay often said that everyone was in for trouble when those two got older. "I think they're plotting to take over the world," he would say. Kathryn would laugh, but she had to admit she was sometimes unsettled by her son's steady gaze. She had a feeling he was going to be incredibly brilliant when he grew up, and she wondered if Tuvok could sense that in him.

"Did Aunt B'Elanna have the baby yet?"

"She did, she had a boy." Chakotay said. "They named him Jonathan."

"Are you going to have any more babies, Mommy?" Taya asked apprehensively.

Kathryn laughed. "No, I am most definitely not going to. I think we make a pretty good family with just us and your brother, don't you?"

The girls nodded enthusiastically. They knew how much Miral Paris had her hands full with her siblings.

* * *

The Voyager reunion was held two months after B'Elanna gave birth. There was to be an official celebration thrown by Starfleet, then a more unofficial one at Kathryn's mother's house in Indiana, where the former crew of Voyager were free to bring their children and family and friends, including anyone who had served on Voyager in the last ten years. 

The Starfleet celebration was the usual. Big speeches, important admirals speaking, the almost mandatory speeches by Kathryn, Chakotay, and the now retired Admiral Paris. A lot of food, a lot of dancing, a lot of official pictures with dignitaries. It wasn't exactly relaxing, and Kathryn found herself aching to go home to her children. She was looking forward much more to the party at her mother's scheduled for the next day.

Everyone showed up to that one, even Gretchen's neighbors. Kathryn was gratified to see that everyone had made it. Tuvok had come with his wife and their youngest, their daughter who was now an adult. Harry and Libby had brought their two boys, Robert and Kenneth. Everyone was very pleased that Libby had come, especially considering how immensely pregnant she was with their first daughter, who would be called Regina. They were talking to Seven and the Doctor, who had come with a surprise. They had adopted a tiny blonde baby, whom they had named Annika.

"The way I look at it," Seven had said to Kathryn when they had been able to speak alone earlier. "My parents gave me a name they expected me to use. I was prevented from using that name. I could never go back to it, Admiral. I am Seven of Nine. There's just no changing that. But out of respect for my parents, who I know would have raised me with as much love as care as we plan on giving this baby, we have decided to give her my name. So that there can be a little girl named Annika who does get to have a proper childhood, like my parents would have wanted."

Kathryn patted Seven's arm. "They would have been very, very pleased."

"Aunt Irene thinks so. She is very excited with Annika. She has the unfortunate tendency to…I believe the Doctor called her a 'baby hog'. I confess I don't quite understand the phrase, but I understand the sentiment behind it. She is quite reluctant to relinquish Annika."

Kathryn grinned. "And how is your aunt?"

"She is very well. The Doctor makes sure she is in exceptional health."

"Tell me, how did you come to have this baby?"

Seven pursed her lips. "As you know, Admiral, I am unable to procreate. The Borg implants which were installed throughout my body destroyed my ovaries many years ago, and my uterus is so scarred that even if I had my own eggs, or if we decided to use a donor egg, it would be impossible for me to carry a child. Therefore, we decided to look into other options." Seven looked down. "I never thought I would want children so badly. But my experiences with the children on Voyager, with Naomi, with…with my son Icheb, they all left me with lingering maternal feeling which I have never been able to repress, nor do I want to. Seeing you and Captain Chakotay with your children, and all the Paris children, and the Kim children…I wanted that very badly, as did the Doctor. So we started to do some research, use our contacts, hoping to find a baby who would need a good home. It didn't matter from where, we would take any child. A Bolian, a Vulcan, even a Cardassian if it came down to it. However, we happened to find a human baby to look after. Her parents were killed in a shuttle explosion four months ago, when she was three months old. They were coming home from McKinley Station, where they were involved in a major overhaul on The Kennedy. They were in the Engineering Corp, and since they helped design The Kennedy, their expertise was needed. They left the baby with a very elderly grandmother, and were only gone for a week. However, on their way back, the shuttle they were in suffered a deflector failure, and they were destroyed by space debris. I believe you may have heard of the incident, it was the shuttlecraft Taurus."

"Yes, I remember. Six engineers were killed in that incident. It was a huge blow to the corp. I remember how shaken Tom was. B'Elanna had been considering that trip, but her pregnancy was starting to get difficult so she decided against it. She may not have ended up on the Taurus, but you never know." She tilted her head. "Wait, is this Lieutenant Deveraux's baby?"

Seven smiled. "Yes, she is. Lieutenant Deveraux and Lieutenant Commander Vincent had no family except for Deveraux's elderly mother, Justine. Justine had gone through discreet channels to find a couple willing to adopt her granddaughter. She's very old and very ill, and she felt her granddaughter deserved a fuller life than she could give her. In addition, she doesn't expect to live long, so the child would be orphaned anyway. She asked that we keep her first name as her middle name if we changed it, and we have done so."

"What was her first name?"

Seven made a barely perceptible face, but Kathryn was attuned to her expressions so she caught it. "Helen."

Kathryn bit her lip in amusement. "I take it you don't like that name."

"I am not overly fond of it."

"Annika Helen is a fine name."

"Justine Deveraux thought so. We bring Annika to see her once a week, and the Doctor does what he can for her but unfortunately, there is very little time left for her. However, she is leaving us her home in Colorado. She said she would like it if Annika knew where her mother grew up and had some part of her to hold on to."

"Are you going to use it?"

"We're going to live there. The connection is important for Annika. I want her to know that we are her parents, but I also want her to know the people who loved her before we did." Seven hesitated. "The situation is much like mine."

"How so?"

"I know that you…well, for lack of a better term, you are my mother, Admiral. And despite a brief…umm, interlude…Chakotay for all intents and purposes is my father. But having my real father's logs, having such a close relationship with my aunt…It was important for me to know the people who loved me before Voyager did. It is the same for Annika. It was the same for the Doctor. We were his family, but he had to know Dr.Zimmerman. He, too, had to know where he came from."

Kathryn was touched. "Seven," she said in a choked voice. "I am honored that you think of me as your mother. I also think of you as a daughter."

"Thank you, Admiral."

Kathryn smiled. "Is her last name going to be Vincent still?"

"No. We thought perhaps we would have her last name be Zimmerman, but the Doctor rejected that idea. He said he'd much prefer her last name to be Hansen. So Annika Helen Hansen it is. Dr. Zimmerman was most gratified when he met her, especially when we told him he was her grandfather. He, too, is a 'baby hog'. It is most…frustrating."

"Keep her away from my mother, then." Kathryn peeked out the kitchen window into the backyard. She smirked. "Don't worry, Gretchen Janeway has commandeered little Jonathan. I guess she stole him from B'Elanna. The girls are with her, too. They look enthralled." Kathryn smiled at Seven. "Which is interesting considering not too long ago, they were begging Chakotay and me not to have any more children."

"Why?"

"Who knows? I think they just see how many kids Tom and B'Elanna have and they get nervous."

"Are you planning on more?"

Kathryn laughed. "At my age? It was shock enough to have Taya, let alone Molly and Kolopak. I think that's more than enough for an old lady like me."

"You are hardly old, Admiral."

"But I'm hardly young."

* * *

But as she stood off to the side of her mother's yard, surveying all her friends and family, she felt young again. She felt like that young woman who captained a mighty starship in another part of the galaxy, who brought together two crews and made them a family. It had been a long time since she had existed only as the Captain, and she was glad that she didn't have to anymore. But a part of her missed this family, this community that she had once led. She no longer led them, but she knew they still looked to her as their leader. But they had grown up. They didn't need her to guide them anymore, and she was proud of them for that.

"Hiding?" He husband asked softly, coming up behind her.

"How do you sneak up on me like that?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you." He wrapped his arms around her waist as they observed the party.

"We did good, didn't we, Commander?"

"We did very good, Captain. You got them home, and they've thrived."

She leaned back into him. "I sometimes think about the Admiral. A bitter, lonely old woman. No husband, no children. The weight of all those years on her shoulders. Such a burden. And times like this, when we're with all of them, I wonder who it was. Those twenty-two crew members she lost. Was it Samantha? Kaplan? Campbell? Who was it that was given a second chance?" she sighed. "I've always wished the admiral could have popped in a few weeks earlier. Then we might not have lost Joe." She gestured towards two young men and a woman talking to B'Elanna and Tom. "Look how much his sons have grown. He would be so proud of them. It says a lot of them and their mother that they have became a part of the Voyager family."

"I asked Sarah Carey about that once." Chakotay said. "She said that Joe's letters and communications with them made them feel as if they were already a part of Voyager. She said she had always wanted to get to know the people who had been her husband's family all those years, and that after he died, it was even more important to her. That's why she brought the boys to greet us when we returned. She went right up to B'Elanna, introduced herself, and gave her a big hug. I don't think I've ever seen B'Elanna so shocked."

"I always worried that she would blame me for his death. We were so close to being home, even if we didn't know it. I always worried about all the families of those we lost. I always thought they would all blame me."

"But they didn't. I know it was hard for you, going to see all of them when we came back. But it meant a lot to them, and I think, to you as well."

"It did." She continued to gaze upon the festivities, watching as Tom lit the Tiki torches he had brought to ward off the coming dusk. Pretty soon, her mother's backyard was reminiscent of Neelix's resort program. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, the children were running around chasing fireflies. Someone had started music, and several couples danced on the deck. She saw Reg Barclay talking to the Doctor and Dr.Zimmerman, the Doctor holding his new daughter securely in his arms. She saw Naomi and Icheb patiently playing with Naomi's little brothers. Mark Johnson and his wife were cooing over Jonathan with Gretchen. She caught sight of Taya's glossy dark ponytail bobbing as she ran around with the other children. She saw Katie and Kolopak's chubby little legs bobbing as they ran around after them. Chakotay's sister Sekaya had been able to make it, and she was laughing with Phoebe and Phoebe's husband, while their children played around them. Chell and his wife were sitting with Vorik and his wife, Mike Ayala was showing off his new son, Ashmore and Gilmore were involved in a friendly debate about something. It was comforting to see that everyone was still a family.

Kathryn though back on the last seventeen years. In the admiral's timeline, they wouldn't have been home for another six years. Most of these children wouldn't exist. Some of the adults wouldn't, either. Seven would be dead, Tuvok broken, Chakotay soulless. In another timeline, the timeline which had been prevented since they didn't take their ill fated trip through the slipstream, they were all dead except for Chakotay and Harry. Chakotay had once spoken to her about that, about how he wouldn't have been able to bear it if he had to live when everyone on their ship, including her, was dead. In yet another timeline, not only was she dead, but so was B'Elanna. None of the Paris children existed, nor did the Kim children. That was the timeline Kes had told her about, the timeline where she married Tom Paris, and Harry married their daughter. The timeline with the Krenim. The Year of Hell.

She wondered if there were other timelines she didn't know about. There was the incident Chakotay had barely alluded to when he had told B'Elanna to burn out the deflector dish, which he later fully revealed to her. She had been surprised to know that the ship had been fractured into different sections of time, and that Chakotay had met up with the Captain Janeway from before they even met. What else didn't she know? What else had they changed?

And what did it even matter?

As she looked around at the family before her, she realized that it didn't matter what may have been, what might have happened. What mattered was what _did_ happen. This was what happened, and it was the best ending Kathryn could have asked for. It gave her a loving husband, and three beautiful children. She had always wanted children, but after being in the Delta Quadrant for seven years, it was a dream she had figured she would never see. Especially when she found out about Seven and Chakotay.

But that was over, before it ever really began.

And this was forever.

"Ten years," Chakotay said softly. "Amazing how far we've all come."

* * *

"Come on, Admiral, make a speech!" Harry goaded. 

Kathryn groaned and wished she and Chakotay had stayed hidden in the trees. "Come on, didn't we have enough speeches last night?"

"We do so love to hear you speak, Admiral. Especially when you aren't giving us orders." Tom said. Laughter rippled through the crowd.

Kathryn smiled softly and in the glow from the Tiki torches, with her long hair loose and her slim form clad in a comfortable dress, she did in fact look like that young captain from seventeen years ago, the young woman brimming with excitement over every discover they made and every step they took closer to home. It had taken a long time for her to decompress from the seven years where she had become distant, not so excited with what had become the routine of the Delta Quadrant. Kathryn had to overcome the groove the Captain had cut into her, and she had a lot of help in doing so. And now, it seemed as though this woman, ten years older than she had been when she returned home, was just as young as the day she left.

"Seventeen years ago, we all suffered a great loss. We were taken from our home, hurled more than 70,000 light years from where we belonged, and two vessels lost roughly a third of each of their crews. I made the decision – one I do not regret, as it saved countless lives – to strand all of us in the Delta Quadrant. It occurred to me once that the Ocampa weren't the only species we saved that day. With the array in the hands of the Kazon, it would only have been a matter of time before they found themselves in Federation space. They would have been a formidable enemy, and with the ongoing conflicts the Federation was already dealing with, quite possibly a very fatal enemy. We were spread too thin as it was, and in the days to come, the fleet was spread only thinner. I obviously can't say for certain what would have happened, but I know in my heart that with the array in the hands of the Kazon, the whole galaxy was in danger. Who knows how many lives, in this quadrant alone, were saved with that act? I regret that so many of our people died when the caretaker brought us there, but I'm not so sure I can completely regret that we were brought there at all. Where would we be today?"

"Prison!" Tom quipped loudly. There was more laughter, and Admiral Paris gave his son a fatherly clap on the shoulder, while both their wives shook their heads in amusement.

"In your case, Tom, I have no doubt." Kathryn said wryly. Chakotay laughed and took her hand. "I see all the families here today, and I know many of them would not have existed without our journey. There would be no Paris family, for one thing. No Doctor, no Seven. There would be no Kathryn and Chakotay."

"Yeah, because you would have arrested him!" Came another outburst from Tom.

"You wait a few minutes, Mr. Paris, and I'll arrest you!" Kathryn grinned. "On our journey home, we created an unbreakable bond between us. How many other crews do you know who are all still so connected? I can think of none. Well, I can think of one. Right, Captain LaForge? Jean-Luc?" She waved to the scattered officers who once all had been members of the Enterprise senior staff. They chuckled. "We are a family. And together we remember those members of our family who didn't make it home." Kathryn sighed. "As Captain, I had the privilege to hear some of the personal logs of those who we lost on our trip home. I can't say that they wouldn't have preferred a better outcome, but I can tell you this: being in the Delta quadrant, being part of such a fine crew…They all agreed that in some way, it enriched their lives. We did things no one in the Federation has ever done, saw things no one had ever seen. We lived an adventure. And though our journey is over, and has been for some time, I believe we have always continued the adventure together, and we always will." Kathryn raised a glass, and everyone followed her gesture. "To old friends, in memory still bright, forever young in our minds, and never lost in our hearts. We salute them. And we salute each other, for making it home and making our lives…" she paused and smiled softly. "Making our lives something spectacular. To them, and to us."

"Hear, hear!" came the agreement from all assembled. They drank together. Then they began to clap.

"Thank you. Now, let's enjoy the rest of the night, and I hope to see you all again next year."

* * *

"Computer, end program." 

There was a chirp, accompanied by the dissolution of the holographic image. A young woman stood in the now gray colored room. She sighed.

"Was that her?"

She whirled around at the voice behind her. "Harry! What are you doing here?"

The blonde man grinned and strode closer. "I asked the computer where you were. Wasn't hard, sweetheart."

She blushed. "Don't call me that here!" she hissed.

He laughed. "You're so skittish. No one knows, and I think no one really cares. So, you didn't answer my question. Was that her?"

"You know it was. That was a holo-recording taken at their tenth anniversary reunion."

"She looked different."

The woman grinned. "She looked happy."

"All later recordings of her are of her looking happy. My grandfather said she was a very happy woman."

"I know, and I'm glad. It's just…after I came into possession of some of her old logs, I had to make sure."

"Those logs were from-"

"I know. I just feel a connection to her. It's like…well, it's like I know her."

"In a way, you do." Harry said softly.

Annika Janeway sighed. "It has always torn at me that she died before I was born. I wanted to know her so bad. I ran countless simulations of her, but it was never the same. My father and grandmother told me as much about her as they could, but it just… wasn't the same."

"I barely remember her, but I remember she was very kind."

Annika nodded. She was the youngest child of Taya Janeway's oldest son and Annika Helen Hansen's only daughter. She had been born only a month after Kathryn Janeway's death, and three years after Chakotay's. It had always upset Annika that she hadn't been able to meet the infamous command team of Voyager, her great-grandparents.

Harry Paris was the grandson of Tom Paris' son Jonathan. Jonathan had married Harry Kim's daughter Regina, and as such, the handsome young man had a hint of Asian ancestry in his slightly slanted green eyes and his golden skin tone. He was incredibly handsome, and he knew it. It had driven him crazy with how long it had taken the beautiful Annika Janeway to fall prey to his charms. He had even tried to convince her that merging their famous families together was destiny. "Come on, Ani," he had said. "Your great-uncle Kolopak and my great-aunt Katie ended up together. What does that tell you?" Annika had just scoffed and walked away quickly.

That had all changed when they had been assigned to the same ship. Even though they had grown up together, it had been a massive adjustment. But it had also been the tool to bring down the wall Annika had always kept between them.

"You were three when she died, weren't you?"

"Yes. I was born right after Chakotay died, and I remember my grandfather saying she was just never the same after that. They were both very old, though. They lived a good life together. You should remember that, Annika. They were very, very happy."

She smiled. "I know. I just had to see for myself. Especially today. I needed to be close to her today."

They made their way back to the bridge. "Captain Janeway, this report was just sent up from engineering. It looks like all systems are go." Her chief of security handed her a PADD.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Wildman." She took the PADD and sat down in her chair, Harry to her left. "Commander Paris, I believe we are ready to head out."

Harry, her first officer, grinned. "I believe you are right, Captain. Ensign, take us out, one quarter impulse."

"Impulse engines are engaged, sir." said the pilot at the helm, the granddaughter of Kolopak and Katie. "Heading?"

Annika looked around her bridge. All of her crew members were descendants of Voyager crewmembers. She had made sure of that. They were the best and the brightest in the fleet, and she was proud of them.

"You know our heading, Lieutenant. You know our mission. Power up the transwarp drive."

"Last chance, Ani." Harry grinned. "Are you sure you want to follow in our great-grandparent's footsteps?"

"Not follow, Harry. Trace. That's our mission, to trace the path they took from the Delta quadrant, check up on some Talaxians, and go pay a little visit to the Ocampa." She smiled softly. "I hope they're faring well."

"Do you think they'll remember them?"

"I'm sure it's in their history books."

"Transwarp engines powered, Captain."

Annika grinned at Harry. "All systems go, Commander?"

He grinned back. "All systems go, Captain. We're ready when you are."

* * *

"So, the bi-pedals are finally going to the Delta quadrant." Young Q watched with his father from their vantage point in the back of the bridge. "USS Voyager, NCC-74656-D. How appropriate for you, Q."

"We're not going to bother them." His father said softly. "I just wanted to see Kathy in action again, one more time."

"Um, Q, I hate to break it to you, but Aunt Kathy is a little bit dead."

Q pointed to Annika Janeway. "No, she's right there. Alive and kicking."

Q looked at him. "Are you saying…?"

"Let's just say I wanted her to have a little bit of an easier time. I don't know what it was, but she brought out a sense of compassion in me I didn't know I had. Not like Jean-Luc," Q sneered. "He was so high on his pretentious horse it was sickening. But Kathy gave me a reason to want her to stick around."

"Is that why she feels so close to her great-grandmother?"

"That's exactly why. She remembers, in some way." Q nodded towards Harry. "So does Chuckles."

His son snapped his head back towards him with an expression of shock. "Q! Chakotay, too?"

"All of them." Q gestured towards the bridge crew. "I decided to make a little game of it, bring them all back in their own descendants. Isn't that just too clever?"

"If the continuum finds out-"

"They won't. And I don't think they'll care. Voyager's crew saved the continuum. We owe them."

"But what's the point?"

His father smiled. "To make it a little easier on them this time. To make the journey...a little bit happier."

"But didn't Aunt Kathy say that the journey was the adventure?"

"Oh, they'll have adventure." He eyed the auburn haired, green eyes beauty sitting in her great-grandmother's chair, in _her_ chair. "But this time around, the adventure won't be fighting for their lives. It will be doing what these humans were born to do. They will be exploring. That's what Kathy really wanted, and I'm going to give it to her."

"How do you know they won't run into trouble?"

Q smiled diabolically. "Oh, don't worry; I'll be around to keep an eye on them." He snapped his fingers, and, oblivious to the crew, he and his son disappeared. For the moment.

* * *

Annika smile at Harry, and took his outstretched hand. "Here we go," she whispered to him. She turned towards the view screen. "Engage." 


End file.
